Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1

2

Daylight Savings Time Ends “Fall Back”

3

Day 5

4

Day 6

5 Market Day

Pick-Up 5:00—5:30 PM

Big Buddy Day

Day 7

6

Day 8

7

Purdy Pride Day

Day 9

8

9 10

Day 10

11 Veteran’s Day /Open House/Turkey Lunch

PTO Book Fair 8:00 AM—12:30 PM

PTO Meeting 6:30 PM—IMC

Day 1

12

K-5 Hearing & Vision Screening

Day 2

13 K-5 Hearing &

Vision Screening

Parent/Teacher Conferences

PTO Book Fair 3:00—7:30 PM

Day 3

14

K-5 Hearing & Vision Screening

PTO Book Fair 3:00—4:00 PM

Day 4

15

16 17

Day 5

18 Parent/Teacher

Conferences

PTO Book Fair 3:00—7:30 PM

Day 6

19

Big Buddy Day

Day 7

20

Day 8

21

Day 9

22

23 24

Day 10

25

Day 1

26

Thanksgiving Break

No School

27

Thanksgiving Break

No School

28

Thanksgiving Break

No School

29

30

Purdy Elementary School November 2014

Future Dates 12/3 Big Buddy Day 12/3 Market Day P/U 12/5 Purdy Pride Day 12/6 PTO Breakfast with Santa 12/11 Holiday Concerts @ High School 6:00-7:45 PM 12/12 Early Dismissal

PURDY PANTHERS PURDY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

November 2014

Dear Parents, Looking forward to November is always an exciting time. The seasons drastically change, lots of holidays are celebrated, of course, much family time to be had. We continue to keep a fast and rigorous pace of learning amidst the busy lives that we live and our students take it all in stride! October left us quicker than it came, but we certainly worked towards many goals: Fourth graders participated in the WKCE

state assessment in both science and social studies. They worked hard to stay focused and do their best on this mandatory test.

Our Kindergarten, first and second graders complete their fall round of PALS testing. This mandated testing allows us to engage students in real literacy tasks that will then give us detailed information about how to make instructional decisions for students to provide strong literacy instruction at their level.

Teachers spent two separate days (Kindergarten Day 2 still to come) with an outside consultant helping us deepen our professional understanding on strong literacy instruction, including how to incorporate lessons using a higher text level, understanding interactive writing samples, identifying common core state standards themes, and the list goes on. Additionally, time was spent on how to best prepare authentic learning situations for our students to get them up for the Smarter Balanced Assessment to come in spring (for grades 3-5). I can’t thank our teachers enough for always managing to take on the new challenges with high professionalism and dedication to our students.

*Speaking of Smarter Balanced Assessment (which is replacing the WKCE), we hope to have our students start to pilot some sample questions/test scenarios in the winter, once the company has launched their new set of updated examples. If you would like more information, you can find it at: http://www.smarterbalanced.org/

Purdy was recognized once again as a “green school” earning the 2013-2014 EPA Energy Star Certification.

Planning Halloween events has been very exciting! Although for some it “still wasn’t the same without the Haunted House”, the students share much laughter, fun, and thrills of the season! Many thanks to all the families who came out to support the Monster Mash dance. As always, those funds go towards our annual Dream Scholarship benefiting a Purdy Panther choosing to move onto college. We appreciate all the support, donations and hard work of the committee!

Another great celebration was our Market Day Cookie and Pie Fundraisers. These wonderful programs allow us to provide extra services and opportunities for your children we might otherwise not be able to do.

Coming up: Come join us for our annual Veteran’s

Day Program and Open House on Tuesday, November 11th. Several honored guests will be present as well as our students singing for this special remembrance of our veterans. Afterward, come and see what staff and students do best: learn and teach. Then stay for our wonderful turkey hot lunch. Be sure to get your reservation to our main office by Monday, November 3, 2014.

Holiday concerts will be here soon. Be sure to mark your calendars for Thursday, December 11th and join us at the High School that evening.

Looking ahead, Leigh Ann Scheuerell, Principal Purdy Elementary School 920-563-7822

OPEN HOUSE—MORNING of

NOVEMBER 11, 2014

M o st pa r e n t s t oo k t h e opportunity to visit school in August at Purdy’s Back-to-School Night. Now you can return during the day and see instructional lessons! This year’s Open House will be held the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 11th. It starts with a ceremony honoring veterans at our flagpole recognizing Veteran’s Day. Afterwards family members can visit their children’s classroom and see our students in action. If your child has music, physical education, art or library skills follow along to see those lessons as well! Want to stay for lunch too? We have a great turkey luncheon planned! Reserve a hot lunch by Monday, November 3rd or just join us with your own lunch. Hope to see you there.

PLANNING TO HAVE LUNCH WITH YOUR CHILD?

Family members are always welcome to come and have lunch with your child(ren). If you are

planning to eat hot lunch, please call the office before 8:30 AM to reserve a meal. We look forward to seeing you throughout the year.

HOMEWORK FOR

ABSENTEE CHILDREN

Teachers are more than happy to help your child to keep up with their schoolwork when they have missed a few days of school. Please allow ample time for teachers to get homework together for him/her. A good time to ask is when calling in your child’s absence in the morning. The office can prepare a note and pass it on to the teacher, giving the teacher the day to gather the homework. Thank you for your help.

WE WILL NOT FORGET Lyrics for the Veteran’s Day

Program Song to be sung by students:

We are proud of our veterans Proud of you all.

You are patriots and heroes who answered the call.

With courage, strength and sacrifice, You saw our country through.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you to you.

We are proud of our veterans,

Proud of you all. You are citizens with honor and faith

standing tall. Our freedom is assured to us,

Because you all came through.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you to you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you to you.

MARKET DAY NEWS PIE ORDER UPDATE

Another big thanks goes out to

everyone that supported the cookie dough sale. Pickup for the dessert sale is Wednesday, November 5th in the Multipurpose Room from 5:00—5:30 PM. Be sure to consider Market Day as you prepare for your holiday celebrations. They have many easy and tasty options for family gatherings. Thank you again for supporting Purdy Elementary through your purchase with Market Day. Check out Market Day online at www.marketday.com. Dawn Church & Mary Lynn Vaillancourt Co-Chairpersons

BREAKFAST WITH

SANTA SATURDAY, DEC. 6th

8:00 – 10:00 AM Breakfast with Santa is just around the corner. December 6th will be the morning you won’t want to miss! Santa will arrive and the festivities will begin. There will be games and lots of time to visit with Santa. Parents are encouraged to bring their cameras for the event.

Registration forms will be sent home after November 1st. It is very important to get forms back to us as quickly as possible. We need to let Santa and the Elves know how many children, parents and grandparents will be there.

If you have any interest to help out at this event, please contact Rachel Broadhead at 920-568-3858. We will see you there!!!

Purdy PTO Needs Your Help! Breakfast with Santa Teacher Appreciation Dinner Book Fair Set-up/Clean up/ Sale Shifts Flower Sale 5th Grade Breakfast Purdy Power Dollars (Scrip Program) Volunteer sign-up sheets were sent home last week. Please return them as soon as possible so we can create a master volunteer list or contact President Maggie Messler at magsmess@yahoo.com.

UP-TO-DATE WITH

ORCHESTRA 5th grade orchestra students

should be turning in weekly practice logs. Please check the back of the log to make sure your child is meeting the minimum practice requirements. Our holiday concert will be here before you know it! (Monday, Dec. 8)

Reminder to Parents:

If you want to participate in the orchestra booster meetings, the next meeting will be held on Monday, Nov. 17, at 6:00 pm, in the High School Music Pod.

Ms. Kosak and the students of

Purdy School are happy to announce the

Purdy Winter Concerts

Thursday, December 11, 2014 Fort Atkinson High School

KINDERGARTEN AND FIRST GRADE

6:00 PM “We Sing the Season”

SECOND AND THIRD GRADES

6:35 PM “The Big Chill”

FOURTH AND FIFTH GRADES

7:20 P.M. “December ‘Round the World”

PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!

Since this a co-curricular project, every student is expected to perform unless there is a family emergency that night. Your children work very hard to give their best for you at this program; please try to schedule other events around this opportunity to see the results of their efforts.

We can’t wait to see you there!

CARING HEARTS HELP HEAL

Please help in our family’s

mission!!! We have started an annual collection & donation of soda can tabs! In June of 2015, we will donate to The Ronald McDonald House in Madison for the 4th year! Our passion for helping the families at The House started when both Mya and Klloe were born preemies! Mom lived there for a total of almost 6 weeks! Last June our donation exceeded our goal of 28 by filling 54 large oatmeal containers!! This June, Mya and Klloe are SUPER excited to have set our goal for 100 containers full!! That would bring our donation to 200 pounds of tabs!! Please help us “Pay it Forward with Pop Tabs” by saving all can tabs! Including those from soda/beer/juice/iced tea cans, soups cans as well as tabs from canned cat food and sardines! Purdy School has a collection container in the Staff Lounge for your small donations. If you have a large collection you can drop them in our large collection containers at Pick ‘N Save or the Dwight Foster Library! Thank you so much for supporting our mission! Tiffany, Mya & Klloe

FORT ATKINSON REGIONAL

SCIENCE FAIR AT THE HOARD HISTORICAL MUSEUM February 21-22, 2015

All K-5 students are encouraged to enter their school projects in the Regional Science Fair. A separate set of rules will be coming soon. It is a great community-wide activity. Students in grades 3-5 are especially encouraged since they have already done a project that has met the requirements of the Regional Fair. Thank you for your cooperation.

GEOGRAPHY AWARENESS

WEEK COMING SOON

Knowledge of geography concepts and skills can create a solid information base for a number of other subject areas including reading comprehension, current events, science, social studies, (geography is one of the social studies areas), etc.

Parents should note that the School District has geography map proficiency tests for grades 2-5. The test measures how well students know the following geography places: states, major cities, countries, key lines of latitude and longitude, continents and oceans, key landform names, i.e. mountains, rivers, etc. As students proceed through the grades they are expected to learn greater amounts of geography knowledge. Advanced students may take succeeding grade’s tests i.e., students in third grade may take a fourth grade test if mastery is demonstrated at the third grade level first. Look for this information to be graded on this year’s report card. The test maps are also on the District’s webpage for student study at home.

Purdy will also have a Geography Bee in January for interested students. Students in grades 4 and 5 are eligible.

WELCOME NEW STUDENTS

The following students are new to Purdy School. Welcome to a great place to learn. Lilian McKinney Early Childhood Kevin Rolain Early Childhood Treysan Barnes First Grade Cairo Dale First Grade Te’Kail Barnes Third Grade Latavia Hardwick Fourth Grade

PATROL OF THE MONTH On Friday, October 24, 2014 Mason Brandl and Princess

Zuniga, Captains, were treated to lunch at McDonald’s as they were chosen to be Patrol of the Month. Thanks for being responsible patrollers. We have terrific students!

HOT LUNCH AND

MILK MONEY

Just a reminder for parents to please put lunch money in an envelope with child’s name, grade, homeroom teacher and amount enclosed. Thank you for your help.

SOUTHERN LAKES

ANTHOLOGY CONTEST—ALL SUBMISSIONS FOR SLA ARE DUE TO THE SCHOOL LIBRARY BY

NOVEMBER 25TH

SLA is a contest for 3rd—5th grade students. The theme for 2014-2015 is “Expressions”. Students submit poetry, prose, illustrated writing, cartoons or black/white art. For rules and information, contact your Library Media Specialist, Ms. Daly!!

SCHOOL CANCELLATION START/DISMISS CHANGE

In case of inclement weather and we need to call off school, you will get an AlertNow message to any phone numbers or email accounts registered to this program. In addition we notify these stations in this order. Parents are encouraged to tune in. 1. WFAW/WSJY/LITE PM 2. WSLD 3. WISC—TV—Ch. 3 4. WMTV—NBC—Ch. 15 5. WIBA/WTSO/WMLI/WZEE/ WMAD 6. WKOW 27 7. Weather Watch 12 8. WKTI/WTMJ/Today’s TMJ 4 9. Milwaukee Fox 6 10. WOLX, Triple M 11. WBEV, WXRO, WTTN 12. Milwaukee CBS 58 If school is going to be cancelled or delayed, the announcement is on the radio/TV shortly after 6:00 AM and is repeated every 10—15 minutes. Please do not call the school.

Make sure a plan is made in advance for your child should school be dismissed early and listen or watch the above stations for news. The safety of our children is our main concern.

COLD WEATHER REMINDERS

As the weather continues to cool

down and winter sets in it is important to dress your child(ren) appropriately. Students will be expected to participate in outdoor recess on most days except when the temperature or wind-chill falls below zero. Outdoor activity provides a very healthy and needed break for our students. Once it snows, children who do not wear boots and snow pants will only be able to play on the blacktop area. So have your child(ren) bundle up. Recess provides a needed break during their busy day.

Make sure your child wears warm clothes and the proper winter footwear.

Check for lost clothing items—it seems our Lost & Found grows considerably during the winter months.

Drive safely in the school zone if you are bringing children to school or picking up children at school. Slippery conditions and poor visibility are frequently present and 15 MPH is the speed limit whenever children are present.

CLOTHING DONATIONS

FOR THE OFFICE

The Purdy School Office is looking for gently used clothing items to

be used for those occasional mishaps that occur. Items that would be most useful are: - sweatpants (boy & girls) small/med. - underwear (boys & girls) small/med. - clean hats - mittens/gloves - any school spirit wear We need all sizes for both boys and girls. Our storage space is limited. Please don’t clean your closets, but a few items will be greatly appreciated.

JEFFERSON COUNTY CHRISTMAS NEIGHBORS PROGRAM

Jefferson County Christmas Neighbors is a program that wants to ensure all children in our community enjoy gifts and food for the holidays. If this is a Program that would benefit your family, please call 920-674-4499 after November 1 to speak with a volunteer and sign up.

This program is for Jefferson County residents only and the family must have a referral or the name of a caseworker to qualify.

REQUIRED TESTING

In addition to teachers end of unit testing in core curriculum,

students are required to take state mandated assessments that vary at each grade level: K-2 = PALS in fall and spring Grade 4 = WKCE in Science and Social Studies in Oct./Nov. Grade 2 = OLSAT in mid February Grades 3-5 = Smarter Balanced (replacing WKCE) in spring. It is a very important job we have to provide as many learning opportunities as we can so our students can showcase their learning on these assessments. Your help making sure your child is rested and fed a good breakfast on test dates is so very important. Thanks for all you do to ensure this happens.

HOW PARENTS CAN HELP

THEIR CHILD(REN)’S WRITING

Parents can help too. Below are a number of tips that more or less mirror some of the philosophies and techniques used at Purdy. Share your own writing. Show your

child personal, business, and consumer letters you write as well as receive.

Organize a chalkboard or bulletin

board for written messages for all family members.

Involve your child in family

writing activities, such as making shopping lists, instructions for babysitters, directions for visitors to your house, plans for birthday parties, and notes for school.

Have your child write thank-you

letters for gifts.. Encourage your child to write and

draw cards to send to relatives and friends for birthdays and holidays.

Promote letter writing of all kinds,

such as notes to the tooth fairy or pen pals.

Suggest special writing projects.

Your child can make yard sale signs, posters for his or her room; or keep a diary, journal, or a vacation notebook.

Use the school’s writing process

when helping your child. Prewriting activities include brainstorming and webbing ideas. This is followed by a rough draft and lastly by a final copy.

Point out a writing error now and then. Let your child correct it. Be sure not to over criticize. Writing is very developmental and improves gradually.

Remember that good writing

means more than “correctness.” Focus on the meaning more than the mechanics. Don’t overcorrect but do enough to gradually build writing skills and confidence.

Be patient. Writing develops slowly

with practice.

FALL BOOK FAIR NOVEMBER 11,13, 14 & 18

It’s Book Fair Time Again!

It’s perfect weather to curl up with a new book! You can find a new book at the PTO sponsored Scholastic Book Fair held during conferences. This fall conferences will fall over 2 weeks. The book fair will be November 11 and November 13, 14 & 18. Please stop before or after your conferences. We will be open Thursday, the 13th and Tuesday, the 18th before and after conferences. The Book Fair will be open on Tuesday, November 11th from 8:00 AM—12:30 PM during Open House. We will have shorter hours on Friday, November 14th. Wednesday, November 12 is Teacher/Student Preview Day from 8:00 AM—3:00 PM. Classes are invited to come and shop or pick-out their favorites. Look for information coming home before the book fair with more details. The Book Fair will have specially priced books, including new releases, award-winning titles, children’s classics, adult books, and current best sellers. A flyer with a listing of some of the books that will be available at the book fair will be sent home before the fair. We will have teacher Classroom Wish List books that were chosen by your child’s teacher in bins on the Wish List table for anyone interested in helping your teacher add more books to your child’s classroom library. Hope to see you there! Jill Draeger & Beth Hesselbacher Chairpersons

SAFE AND SECURE

The safety and security of students, staff and visitors is an ongoing priority. In recent years Purdy Elementary School has locked all unmonitored exterior doors during the school day, added internal security doors and has also added 24/7 security cameras to the school and playground. Sign notifications have been added to major entrances indicating security cameras are in use and permission to enter is needed once the school day starts. Please be sure you sign into the Main Office when visiting.

PURDY SCIENCE FAIR

UPDATE February 10, 2015

All students in grades 3-5 are required to enter the Purdy Science Fair. Students in grades 4-5 do individual projects. Students in grade 3 do team projects. Each grade level has a set of requirements that generally follow the Regional rules. Participation in the Fair helps teach District Science Curriculum. All other students in grades K-2 are encouraged to enter the Purdy Science Fair using Regional Science Fair requirements. Entries can be dropped off at the Regional Fair for judging. Note: The Purdy Fair is an exhibition showing class projects and not judged as a contest. Participations ribbons are awarded.

From the Nurse Office

Head lice happen, especially on kids. They are not a sign of poor hygiene or how clean your home is. Anyone can get them—doesn’t matter how long your hair is or how much you shower.

Fortunately, they don’t spread disease and can’t live more than two days off our heads. Head lice eggs won’t hatch unless they are on hair and they won’t infest pets. They spread when kids touch their heads together and sometimes from sharing hair accessories.

Does your kid have head lice? Not everyone gets itchy. Use a nit comb on wet hair and look for bugs the size of a sesame seed or tiny eggs glued to the hair. Check everyone in your household. If you do catch a bug, bring it to the school nurse or compare it with this picture:

If you find head lice:

Use either an over-the-counter OR prescription medication intended for treatment of head lice. Follow the label directions exactly.

Wash pillowcases and anything else that had contact with the child’s head in the past 48 hrs. Use a hot dryer. If you can’t wash it, leave it in a bag for 2 weeks.

Re-treat the hair after 7-9 days or according to label directions. No lice product kills 100% of the eggs, so you have to kill the newly hatched bugs.

Continue to use the nit comb on wet hair to remove old evidence and check for new head lice-DAILY for at least 2 weeks

It will be important for you to clean all areas of your home where the child has been for the 2 days prior to finding the lice including washing bedding and stuffed animals in hot water, vacuuming car seats, carpets, furniture, etc.

For more information, visit www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/index.html or call the nurse office at 920.563.7805

PTO Meeting—IMC Tuesday, October 21st, 2014

Present at Meeting: Leigh Ann Scheuerell, Maggie Messler, Katie McIntyre, Mary Lynn Vaillancourt, Pete Ready, Beth Hesselbacher Additions/Corrections to September Minutes: None Treasurer’s Report: Checking Balance $2,864.21, Savings $1,220.00 OLD BUSINESS

School Board Meeting Update- The School Board Meeting is on Thursday, October 23rd. We will receive an update at next month’s PTO meeting.

Market Day Update- We did really well in cookie sales. We made $1286.42. Pie orders are due October 24th. Right now there are only 42 orders turned in. Our first goal is 100 orders to reach a 30% profit. Our second goal would be 500 orders to reach a 45% profit. We discussed giving Market Day order forms to only and youngest children in each family to reduce the amount of papers coming home. We may need help unloading pies when they come in on November 5th depending on how many we sell.

Spiritwear Update- We had an amazing amount of shirt orders- $2,210!! Jessica Mirek, our spiritwear coordinator, may need help sorting them all when they come in. We discussed adding items to our spiritwear order form for next time.

NEW BUSINESS

Liability Insurance- It has been brought to our attention that Purdy’s liability insurance policy does not cover PTO events and activities. We decided that it would be important for us to obtain our own separate insurance. Leigh Ann Scheuerell and Maggie Messler will compare prices and find an affordable policy for us.

501c3 Status- We are looking into obtaining 501c3 status. This would give us official non-profit status. Without it we are limited in the donations that we can receive from businesses. We will research what this would entail and decide if we are interested in pursuing it.

Box Tops- A Box Top sheet went home in student folders. They need to be turned in soon. A question of whether or not we could use e-Box Tops for purchasing items online was asked. We will check with the Box Top Coordinators.

Book Fair- Jill Draeger is the chairperson and Beth Hesselbacher is her co-chair. The Fall Fair will take place during Parent Teacher Conferences, November 13th and 18th. UW-Whitewater students may help volunteer, however additional help is needed.

Halloween Activities- This year there will not be a haunted house. Instead, the Monster Mash Dance will be held on October 30th from 6:00-7:30.

Teacher Appreciation Supper/Conferences- The PTO will provide dinner to the teachers on Tuesday, November 18th. We pre-ordered chili from the scouts and will also ask for donations from parents for other food items.

Breakfast With Santa- Breakfast With Santa will be held on Saturday, December 5th from 8-10 am. We will be asking for some donations from parents. There will also be a ticket raffle for The Best Seat in the House at the Christmas Program.

Artist in Residence- Options are being looked at for the Artist in Residence that will not interfere with spring testing.

WKCE Testing- The testing is changing this year to Smarter Balanced testing. It will be longer and take place in the spring.

Our meeting was adjourned at 7:39. Our next meeting will be Tuesday, November 11th.

Be sure to “LIKE” Purdy Elementary PTO on Facebook to keep up on all the happenings at Purdy Elementary School .